Why bother seeing stars when you have the star-like NYC lights instead?

Just kidding. Stars are great, and definitely worth seeing.

Even more worth seeing is the popular perseid meteor shower happening this week.

But if you live in New York City, chances are you don’t usually get the chance to see a meteor shower in full force. 

The American Museum of Natural History, as reported by Gothamist, offered some advice on how, where, and when to view the meteor showers from our bright city bubble.

According to a research assistant in the Museum’s Department of Astrophysics, Jackie Faherty, this particular meteor shower happens in outburst, so the numbers will be high and will give us NYCers more of a chance to spot some.

While the darkest skies allow you to view the up to 200 meteors-per-hour, this event qualifies us as the few unlucky. It's still probably one of the only things we have against NYC right now.

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Faherty suggests getting yourself to a rooftop and waiting. Patience is key with astronomy, and if you give yourself a minimum window of 30 minutes worth of patience, chances are you’ll get to see some of those 200.

Peak times to look out for the shower are happening from August 9th to the 13th, with August 12th looking like the highest number day.

Unfortunately the full moon comes out on August 18th, so it’ll present some problems with that dark sky we’re seeking. The earlier in August that you can watch out for the meteors, the better. All the more reason to stay out during the soon-to-be-gone summer nights.

If you can’t get yourself to a rooftop, or want to skip the whole hassle and watch on your laptop, NASA will be streaming it live. 

[via Gothamist] [Feature Image Courtesy Instagram]